Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Societe Generale SA, the second-biggest French bank, is eliminating at least 200 U.S. jobs in
investment and corporate banking as Europe’s sovereign-debt
crisis persists, people familiar with the matter said.

Naseem Haffar, hired as U.S. head of loan sales and trading
in March 2010, and New York-based senior credit traders Joseph
Finnern and Zachary Chavis were among those dismissed, said the
people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter
is private. Cuts may amount to 10 percent to 20 percent of the
2,000 workers in the firm’s U.S. corporate and investment bank.

Societe Generale Chief Executive Officer Frederic Oudea,
48, is selling assets and paring costs to reassure investors
that the Paris-based lender can cope with the debt crisis. The
bank plans to cut about 2,000 jobs next year at its Russian
retail-banking business and aims to free up 4 billion euros
($5.4 billion) in capital by 2013 through asset sales, the
company said in September.

“The bank is going through some changes right now because
of the European situation and as part of that they are cutting
down on some businesses,” Haffar, 54, said in a telephone
interview. “I feel frustrated because I built a very good team
and it just feels that the bank should look in the long run as
opposed to the short run.”

Credit trader Clement Gueugnier and telecom and media
strategist Robert Jaeger also have been fired, the people said.
Strategist Michael Reiner was dismissed in June.

Aside from Haffar, the fired employees said they couldn’t
comment or didn’t reply to phone messages seeking comment.

‘Cross-Selling’

Societe Generale fell 3.2 percent to 17.50 euros in Paris
today and has dropped 56 percent this year amid speculation that
European lenders may struggle to maintain funding as governments
grapple with their debts.

“As announced in September, Societe Generale is in the
process of scaling down a certain number of corporate- and
investment-banking businesses adversely affected by regulation,
structural changes or with low cross-selling potential,” James
Galvin, a New York-based spokesman for the company, said in an
e-mailed statement. “Therefore, the bank is adjusting its
international setup accordingly.”

Financial firms worldwide have cut more than 200,000 jobs
this year, compared with about 58,000 last year and 174,000 in
2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Balance Sheet

Societe Generale, which is reducing corporate- and
investment-banking costs by 5 percent, and larger French rival
BNP Paribas SA aim to shrink their balance sheets after U.S.
money-market funds became reluctant to lend dollars to European
banks, narrowing options to refinance international operations.

Societe Generale is trimming businesses such as aircraft
financing, shipping, leveraged finance and commercial real-estate financing in the U.S., the company said Sept. 12.

Haffar, previously a managing director in credit sales at
New York-based JPMorgan Chase & Co., was hired by Societe
Generale as the bank sought to expand its U.S. loan sales and
trading business.

“I have some very good relationships in the market which I
can still use to generate business,” Haffar said. “I still
have a few years left in this business so I still have a lot to
contribute.”